New Zealand 17 South Africa 14 ( Rugby Championship)

If I had to describe this match between the two titans of Southern Hemisphere rugby in a single word it would be “intense“.

Yes, the Boks were uncharacteristically sloppy, with poor handling by scrum half Grant Williams and skipper Siya Kolesi unimpressive but their renowned scrum has three truly world class players: Michael Marx, the hooker, the lock Eben Etzebeth and the flanker Pieter Steph de Toit.

The All Blacks are a work in progress under new coach Scott Robertson, but centurion Ardie Savea is their mainstay and inspiration. In a grandstand finish, he achieved a crucial turnover.

He is speedy and mobile and only Ben Earl of England gets near to him. Of the Kiwi newcomers Simon Parker impressed me as flanker.

The Championship served up a fine aperitif with the Wallabies beating Argentina 27-24 in extra time.

Inevitably comparisons will be made with the Six Nations. Dan Sheehan of Ireland is as mobile as Michael Marx but the Irish scrum is ageing and the team has this “choker” reputation.

As a former forward, I could not praise Eben Etzebeth enough.

The Boks have produced their share of forwards who play the game at the margins and, to be fair, so have the All Blacks including my boyhood hero Colin Meads once sent off for a foul on Scotland’s Chisholm and fellow lock Andy Haden, who “dived” out of a line-out to win a penalty to deprive Wales of victory, but Etzebeth is not just clean but sporting, at one point by protecting a prostrate All Black from injury.